The Alignment of a Thermotropic Nematic LCP on Lecithin Coated Surfaces as Detected by NMR

Abstract

The orientational order of a surface aligned nematic side chain polymer has been measured by proton NMR. The alignment of the mesogenic units is reflected in the angular dependence of the line width. It was possible to produce partly oriented polydomain layers in homeotropic geometry by interaction of the mesogenic units with a lecithin monolayer on a glass substrate. The degree of orientational order in a layer nearby the lecithin surface and the correlation length of the decay of the orientational order parameter into the bulk have been estimated.